Birthday's to share this week : 15th - 21st February 2015.

Do you celebrate your Birthday this week? 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt does, on 17th February - check out the tribute to this Birthday Boy turning 34, at the end of this feature.

Do you also share your birthday with a well known, highly regarded & famous Actor or Actress; share your special day with a Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer, Singer/Songwriter or Composer of repute; or share an interest in whoever might notch up another year in the coming seven days? Then, look no further! Whilst there will be too many to mention in this small but not insignificant and beautifully written and presented Blog, here are the more notable and noteworthy icons of the big screen, and the small screen, that you will recognise, and that you might just share your birthday with in the week ahead. If so, Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online!

Sunday 15th February

• Jane Seymour - Born 1951, turns 64 - Actress | Producer
• Jessica De Gouw - Born 1988, turns 27 - Actress
• Sarah Wynter - Born 1973, turns 42 - Actress
• Matt Groening - Born 1954, turns 61 - Producer | Writer | Animator

Monday 16th February

• Christopher Eccleston - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actor
• Ice T - Born 1958, turns 57 - Actor | Producer | Singer | Songwriter | Composer
• Elizabeth Olson - Born 1989, turns 26 - Actress

Tuesday 17th February

• Paris Hilton - Born 1981, turns 34 - Actress | Producer | Writer | Heiress
• Denise Richards - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress | Producer
• Rene Russo - Born 1954, turns 61 - Actress | Producer
• Hal Holbrook - Born 1925, turns 90 - Actor
• Lou Diamond Phillips - Born 1962, turns 53 - Actor | Director | Singer | Songwriter
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Born 1981, turns 34 - Actor | Director | Writer
• Dominic Purcell - Born 1970, turns 45 - Actor | Producer
• Michael Bay - Born 1965, turns 50 - Director | Producer | Actor | Cameraman

Wednesday 18th February 

• John Travolta - Born 1954, turns 61 - Actor | Producer | Pilot
• Matt Dillon - Born 1964, turns 51 - Actor
• George Kennedy - Born 1925, turns 90 - Actor
• Milos Forman - Born 1932, turns 83 - Director | Producer | Writer | Actor
• Greta Scacchi - Born 1960, turns 55 - Actress
• Cybill Shepherd - Born 1950, turns 65 - Actress | Producer | Singer
• Molly Ringwald - Born 1968, turns 47 - Actress

Thursday 19th February

• Lisa McCune - Born 1971, turns 44 - Actress | Producer
• Benicio Del Toro - Born 1967, turns 48 - Actor | Producer
• Jeff Daniels - Born 1955, turns 60 - Actor | Director | Singer
• Ray Winstone - Born 1957, turns 58 - Actor | Producer

Friday 20th February

• Sidney Poitier - Born 1927, turns 88 - Actor | Director
• Mike Leigh - Born 1943, turns 72 - Director | Writer
• Brenda Blethyn - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actress
• Cindy Crawford - Born 1966, turns 49 - Actress | Model
• Rhianna - Born 1988, turns 27 - Singer | Actress

Saturday 21st February 

• Jennifer Love Hewitt - Born 1979, turns 36 - Actress | Writer | Producer | Director | Singer
• Tyne Daly - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actress
• Anthony Daniels - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor
• William Baldwin - Born 1963, turns 52 - Actor
• Kelsey Grammer - Born 1955, turn s60 - Actor | Producer | Director | Singer
• Alan Rickman - Born 1946, turns 69 - Actor | Writer | Director

Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in the Sherman Oaks district. Whilst from a Jewish family  his parents were the joint founders of the 'Progress Jewish Alliance' in 1999 to assert Jewish interest in the campaign for social justice in Southern California which houses the second largest Jewish community in the US. His mother Jane Gordon ran for US Congress in the 1970's for the 'Peace and Freedom Party', and his father Dennis Levitt was the news Director for Pacifica Radio KPFK-FM. His maternal Grandfather was a Hollywood Director from the 1940's through to the 70's.

At age four, the young Joseph was already playing musical theatre, which then led to a number of television commercials for 'Pop-Tarts', 'Cocoa-Pops', shoes and peanut butter amongst others. By the end of the decade of his birth  he had already starred in two made for TV films - 'Stranger on my land' in 1988 and 'Settle the Score' in 1989. In between he had also starred in several episodes of the television show 'Family Ties', followed up by eleven episodes on 'Dark Shadows' in 1991 before three more TV films that same year - 'Changes', 'Hi Honey - I'm Dead' and 'Plymouth' - all by the time he had reached the tender age of ten years! Not bad!

1992 saw 13 episodes of 'The Powers That Be' with John Forsythe, with the odd guest appearance on other TV shows in the meantime. That same year there was 'Beethoven' with Charles Grodin and a huge St. Bernard hound, and 'A River Runs Through It' Directed by Robert Redford and starring too a young up & coming Brad Pitt.

The first half of the 90's also brought 'Gregory K', 'Holy Matrimony' with Patricia Arquette, 'Road Flower' (aka 'Road Killers') with Josh Brolin, 'Angels in the Outfield' with Danny Glover, and 'The Juror' with Alec Baldwin. All of this was before his breakout role in as Tommy Solomon with John Lithgow in '3rd Rock from the Sun' which ran for 139 episodes from 1996 to 2001. During this time he was attending Van Nuys High School in Los Angeles, graduating in 1999 with honours.

After appearing with Jamie Lee Curtis in 'Halloween H20' he starred in '10 Things I Hate About You' in 1999 with Heath Ledger, and in 2000 he joined Columbia University School of General Studies in New York studying history, literature and French poetry becoming fluent in French in the process. He however, dropped out in 2004 to concentrate on his acting career, with a handful of films during this period - 'Picking up the Pieces' with Woody Allen in 2000, 'Manic' with Don Cheadle in 2001, and 'Latter Days' in 2003, 'Mysterious Skin' in 2004 and then 'Brick', 'Havoc' and 'Shadowboxer' all in 2005.

He went on to 'The Lookout' in 2007 with Jeff Daniels, 'Stop-Loss' with Channing Tatum in 2008 together with 'Miracle St. Anna' and an uncredited cameo in 'The Brothers Bloom' that same year. He has been a busy jobbing Actor ever since knocking out six films in 2009 - 'Killshot', 'Big Breaks' (short), '(500) Days of Summer', 'Uncertainty', 'Women in Trouble' and 'G.I.Joe : Rise of Cobra'.

2010 brought 'Hesher', 'Electra Luxx' and 'Inception' for Christopher Nolan. 2011 saw '50/50' only with Seth Rogen, and then a return to his usual busyness in 2012 with the release of 'The Dark Knight Rises' for Christoper Nolan once more, 'Premium Rush' for David Koepp, 'Looper' with Bruce Willis, and 'Lincoln' for Steven Spielberg.

In 2013 he was occupied with his acclaimed Writing and Directing debut in 'Don Jon' in which he also starred with Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore. In 2014 he played the role of fractured gambler with a hidden agenda in the Robert Rodriguez follow up to his earlier film 'Sin City' with 'Sin City : A Dame to Kill For'. Then came an uncredited cameo in the now infamous 'The Interview', with 'The Walk' in post-production for a late 2015 release, an as yet untitled Christmas project with Seth Rogen also in post-production for a late end of year release, and an Oliver Stone bio-pic with Gordon-Levitt playing Edward Snowdon and due for a 2016 release and currently in pre-production.

Gordon-Levitt has 68 acting credits to his name, seven Director Credits (which include five short films), three Producer credits and three Writing credits. He has been nominated for two Golden Globes for '50/50' and '(500) Days of Summer', won a Primetime Emmy for 'HitRECord on TV' with 21 other wins and 49 other nominations so far in his career. His older brother Dan died in 2010 and in December 2014 he married Tasha McCauley. He plays drums and guitar, and he is the founder and Director of 'hitRECord' - an online collaborative media production company.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt - dimpled, youthful and possessing boyish good looks; action star, dramatic lead, romantic playboy; and already at just 34 has worked in the business for 30 years and has an aver increasing body of work to show for it and keep us entertained. Happy Birthday to you from Odeon Online.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-